The weather has been getting cooler. Despite my desire to just bury myself under a mound of warm blankets, sip hot chocolate or spiced apple cider, and re-watch all the Harry Potter movies, my professors have decided that they'd rather I do more assignments. However, the cooler temperatures and heavy workload haven't changed my husband's appetite. So, I'm always keeping my eyes open for nutritious, but low-effort dinner options. I especially love recipes that provide left-overs!

We have a great slow-cooker. I don't really have a lot of ideas on how to use it, but I realize that it could be the answer to my time-deprived life. This recipe is for some really awesome pulled BBQ chicken with a great blue cheese slaw. It came together quite easily and involved very little of my actual time or attention. I used a cherry-infused BBQ sauce, but I think any would do. You could definitely even make your own. In an effort to actually conserve time, I did not. Nor did I make my own buns....although I definitely thought about it. :)

Place chicken in the slow cooker sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with BBQ sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Cover and cook on low for anywhere between 4 and 6 hours. My chicken wasn't even fully thawed and still did just fine in this time. After 4-6 hours, remove the chicken, place on a cutting board, and shred with two forks. The chicken should literally fall apart; if it's not, it needs to be cooked longer. Put the slow cooker on high, toss the torn chicken back in, and add the flax seed. Let heat anywhere from 20-40 more minutes, letting the sauce thicken. Voila! Serve on whole wheat buns with Blue cheese slaw on top.

Blue Cheese Slaw

So, fun story with this one. I realized, after starting to make the recipe, that I actually didn't have any mayonnaise. Or yogurt. So....I made some changes and it really ended up being pretty awesome and healthier!

1 1/2 tbs apple cider vinegar1/4 cup milk1/2 tsp black pepper1/3 of an avocado*1 tbs olive oil1/4 cup blue cheesesalt3 cups cabbage, shredded (I used Napa because that's what was available and I like the idea of a crunch, but still a little give)

Mix the vinegar and milk together in a large bowl. Let sit. Meanwhile, shred your cabbage. Add the pepper, avocado, oil, salt and blue cheese to the bowl with the vinegar/milk mixture. Whisk together until the sauce is nice and creamy, with maybe just a few blue cheese chunks to be found. Toss in the shredded cabbage and mix well (I used my hands and would recommend you do too!). Pile on top of your pulled chicken or just eat it by the fork-full

*If you don't have avocado, but DO have mayo, I would use about 2 tbs-4 tbs. Taste and adjust accordingly!

Wow, this looks so good! And I hate mayonnaise, so this variation is doubly enticing for me. Thanks for posting!

Reply

Aubrey

10/21/2012 12:03:27 pm

It was really quite excellent. I was very happy with it! I hope you love it too. I think feta would also work really well.

Reply

Cecelia

10/23/2012 09:05:15 am

Just want to report that I made this for my family tonight and it was a big hit. I set the slow cooker up before I went to work and by the time I returned, the chicken was ready to pull. Thanks again for a great and easy recipe!

Reply

Aubrey

10/23/2012 10:14:32 am

That's great! I'm so glad it worked out! Did you try the slaw as well? I really loved the slaw. :)